I have a few things on my mind now that Spring Training is in full swing:
- I was surprised to hear Brian Cashman indicate that Brandon Drury will primarily work at third base in camp. For one, Drury hardly played the position last year (seven innings). In 2016, he did get a good chunk of time at the hot corner, but defensive metrics loathed his glovework, for what it’s worth. I really thought Drury would be the second baseman after the trade, but I guess not. Perhaps it’s a matter of either Tyler Wade or Ronald Torreyes not being great fits at third base if the Yankees are set on Drury being a starter to open the season.
- Lineup talk is all the rage in Spring Training, so I guess I’ll take my stab at it (assuming Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar start the year in the minors):
- Brett Gardner, LF
- Aaron Judge, RF
- Greg Bird, 1B
- Giancarlo Stanton, DH
- Gary Sanchez, C
- Didi Gregorius, SS
- Aaron Hicks, CF
- Brandon Drury, 3B
- Tyler Wade/Ronald Torreyes, 2B
- I was on the Bronx Beat podcast for BP Bronx last night, and the host EJ Fagan brought up an interesting topic: Tyler Austin‘s role. It seems like he might make the roster as the last guy on the bench. Right now, there are three virtually guaranteed bench roles: Jacoby Ellsbury, Austin Romine, and one of Wade or Torreyes (whoever isn’t starting). If you look at the rest of the plausible choices on the 40-man and non-roster invitees, there really aren’t any other great choices:
- Clint Frazier: Needs regular playing time, whether it’s in the majors or Triple-A, so he won’t be riding the pine.
- Billy McKinney: The Yankees could use a little left-handed balance on offense, and McKinney has worked out at first base. Yet, with Bird being a lefty, it probably makes more sense to have a right-handed first baseman to occasionally spell Bird against someone like Chris Sale.
- Jace Peterson (NRI): Kind of redundant with one of Wade or Torreyes on the bench.
- Danny Espinosa (NRI): Same deal as Peterson.
- I guess that leaves us with Austin.
- Some links:
- I wrote about Drury’s home vs. road splits for BP Bronx. The difference is a little scary!
- I took a look at outfielders similar to Ellsbury to see if he has a rebound in him for 2018, also for BP Bronx.
- Chris is leaving Fangraphs!